Australian tennis legends Wally Masur, Darren Cahill, and John Fitzgerald see Nick Kyrgios as an important cog in Australia's Davis Cup campaign. Photo: Rohan Thomson

Former Australian tennis stars Masur, Darren Cahill and John Fitzgerald were in Canberra on Thursday for the Maxim International, where they raised $160,000 for the Heart and the Newborn Intensive Care foundations.

Masur dropped Kyrgios from the Davis Cup team for Australia's tie against Great Britain last year, but feels the world No.42 will be crucial against the USA at Kooyong in March.

Nick Kyrgios in action for Australia in the Davis Cup in 2014. Photo: Getty Images

He said the current crop of young players, including Thanasi Kokkinakis and Bernard Tomic, combined with the Big Four - Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Rafal Nadal - getting older, would lead to Australia dominating the Davis Cup in the coming years.

Australia has won the Davis Cup 28 times, second only to the USA (32), but they haven't held it aloft since 2003.

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Masur said it was significant that Kyrgios had already proved he was able to be beat top-10 players, with Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray already victims.

"Nick is huge for Australia in Davis Cup and obviously Nick and Bernie are our two top-ranked players, but I think Nick's ability as a big-match player [is huge]," Masur told Fairfax Media.

"If you can beat Nadal on centre court of Wimbledon, if you can beat Federer in a Masters series and then you beat Andy Murray, that's the type of guy Lleyton will be honing in on for Davis Cup.

"I don't like to talk big, I like to keep a lid on things, but I said to the guys last year - because there was Thanasi, Nick, Bernie ... we've got versatility, we've got depth, we've got potential superstars - I believe Australia can win the Davis Cup three, four, five times in the coming decade."

Masur said Kyrgios' decision to go it alone without a coach since splitting with Todd Larkham in June last year had allowed the Canberra tennis star to get to know his own game.

He felt Kyrgios would eventually get a new coach, but he felt Kyrgios' close relationship with former world No.1 Hewitt would continue to evolve and play some role in his future set-up.

Masur said having a former grand slam champion as the Davis Cup captain would be "really positive" and a great mentor for Kyrgios.

"I think at some point he will have a mentor-coach, I think it will happen," he said.

"Lleyton is someone he really admires, Lleyton is now in that Davis Cup role and they're going to work closely together this year.

"I would say there's going to be an evolution there - whether he leans on Lleyton for advice or Lleyton assists him in overseeing a team in the future, I think that's going to be a natural progression.

"I think he's done the right thing, he's taken a step back, he's managed himself in terms of dictating schedules and he looked pretty happy and comfortable over the Australian summer."

Cahill said it was nearly impossible for young players to "jump into the top 10 and stay there" because the game had become so much more physical.

He felt the Big Four had become such "physical beasts" it was no longer possible to do what Lleyton did and burst onto the scene as a teenager.

While Mats Wilander thinks Kyrgios should already be winning majors, Cahill said the next few years for Kyrgios weren't about winning tournaments and producing big results now, but more about "the journey".

"I think it's too much to say, 'He needs to win an ATP event or he needs to make the semis of a slam or he needs to be ranked top 10 or top 20'," Cahill said.

"Just let the ranking be, let the kid work it out, make sure he's working on the right things to set himself up and if he's 22, 23, 24 then you can start saying, 'Alright Nick, now it's time to step up'."